§ 54.630   Eligible recipients.

   (a) Rural health care provider site—individual and consortium. Under
   the Healthcare Connect Fund, an eligible rural health care provider may
   receive universal service support by applying individually or through a
   consortium. For purposes of the Healthcare Connect Fund, a “consortium”
   is a group of two or more health care provider sites that request
   support through a single application. Consortia may include health care
   providers who are not eligible for support under the Healthcare Connect
   Fund, but such health care providers cannot receive support for their
   expenses and must participate pursuant to the cost allocation
   guidelines in § 54.639(d).

   (b) Limitation on participation of non-rural health care provider sites
   in a consortium. An eligible non-rural health care provider site may
   receive universal service support only as part of a consortium that
   includes more than 50 percent eligible rural health care provider
   sites.

   (c) Limitation on large non-rural hospitals. Each eligible non-rural
   public or non-profit hospital site with 400 or more licensed patient
   beds may receive no more than $30,000 per year in Healthcare Connect
   Fund support for eligible recurring charges and no more than $70,000 in
   Healthcare Connect Fund support every 5 years for eligible nonrecurring
   charges, exclusive in both cases of costs shared by the network.

   [ 78 FR 13984 , Mar. 1, 2013]

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